Back to Forum
Post a Response
    Vauxhall - Zafira - 2001 - 2200cc - Z22SE. Loose Timing Chain & Hydraulic Lifters Archived Message

    Posted by Dave Hill on September 25, 2007, 5:28 pm

    As the title suggests I have this Zafira that we replace the timing chain on nearly 12 months & 10,000 miles ago. The customer complained that again it was noisy first thing in the morning. We kept it overnight to witness a true cold start & sure enough it was a little noisy, as it built up oil pressure. It was more of a general rattle (tappets etc) & not specifically the chain this time. Anyway I told her that it didn’t sound out of the ordinary for a 104,000 mile motor & an oil & filter change may help. As she was selling it at the weekend she decided to not to put anymore money into it!

    When she attempted to collect it, the noise was terrible, like it had no oil pressure whatsoever. We have taken the cam cover off & sure enough the timing chain is very slack. Not only that, the hydraulic tappets are so loose that a gentle prod is enough to dislodge them (cam lobe vertical of course).

    We have removed the primary timing chain & it looks fine, as do the guides & tensioner. Even the balance shaft tensioner is slack. Now ordinarily I would like to perform an oil pressure test, but as you can imagine, the chances of it holding together long enough to run up for a pressure check are not good!

    I have spoken to the Dealer guys & they have never experience this problem. I have looked on TIS & there is plenty to suggest that there have been issues with this engine. I have found a thread in the archives, but it doesn’t shed any light on my problem.

    The last time I had a problem similar to this, was on a 1.6 16v Astra. In that case, the oil relief valve in the head, close to the inlet cam was allowing main oil pressure to flood straight into the cam area, thus loosing oil pressure to the tappets.

    Any advise on a way forward would be welcome.

    Thanks for reading guys!

    Dave (Hill)

    Message Thread:


Copyright © uk autotalk